The present invention relates to a recycling technique of an ink cartridge for an ink-jet recording apparatus, in which the resupply of ink is effected by the replacement of the cartridge. The present invention is particularly applicable, but not limited to, an ink-jet recording apparatus of a type in which an ink-jet recording head and an ink cartridge are mounted on a carriage.
An ink-jet recording apparatus is known in which an ink container is attached to a carriage having an ink-jet recording head mounted thereon. In order to prevent printing failures associated with water head pressure change and air bubble generation due to agitation of ink by the carriage movement, it is preferable to accommodate a porous member at least in an ink supply port of the ink container, as disclosed in European Patent Publication No. 581531.
This arrangement can solve the above-mentioned problems linked with the ink agitation since the ink is supplied to the recording head via the porous member.
The recycling of ink cartridges is a desirable objective, and is in consonance with the current trend of effectively conserving resources and reducing the amount of pharmaceutical agents that are discharged to the environment. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 7-60979 discloses an ink cartridge recycling apparatus having an annular member provided with a rotatable ink chamber. An ink cartridge is mounted on the annular member so that the ink supply port faces outward while an ink supply tube is connected to a lid side of the ink cartridge, and then the annular member is rotated in that state.
This apparatus makes it possible to fill new ink into a collected ink cartridge while discharging the remaining old ink from the collected ink cartridge using centrifugal force produced by the rotation of the annular member.
This apparatus, however, suffers from a problem in that the size of the apparatus is large because centrifugal force must be employed. Further, ink may not be completely discharged by the centrifugal force because of strong capillary attraction originating in the porous member contained in an ink cartridge, and/or because of solidification or increased viscosity of the ink. Consequently, refilled new ink is mixed with old ink to lower printing quality, and this is a serious problem, in particular, in case of ink cartridges for color printing.
It is conceivable to remove the porous member from the cartridge and then clean the cartridge sufficiently. The disassembly and the reassembly of cartridge is, however, required to increase the cost.